<s>
The	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
was	O
a	O
game	O
engine	O
developed	O
by	O
Looking	O
Glass	O
Studios	O
and	O
was	O
used	O
from	O
1998	O
to	O
2000	O
,	O
mainly	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
Thief	B-Application
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
's	O
renderer	O
,	O
originally	O
created	O
by	O
Sean	O
Barrett	O
in	O
1995	O
,	O
supports	O
graphics	O
similar	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Quake	B-Application
,	O
with	O
Unreal-like	O
skybox	O
effects	O
and	O
colored	O
lighting	O
introduced	O
in	O
Thief	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
limited	O
hardware	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
was	O
not	O
designed	O
with	O
scalability	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
therefore	O
only	O
display	O
1024	O
terrain	O
polygons	B-General_Concept
onscreen	O
at	O
once	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
various	O
other	O
limits	O
on	O
objects	O
and	O
lights	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Textures	O
are	O
grouped	O
in	O
"	O
families	O
"	O
which	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
palette	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
216	O
textures	O
and	O
independent	O
palettes	B-Data_Structure
,	O
excluding	O
8	O
animated	O
water	O
textures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
engine	O
does	O
not	O
natively	O
support	O
advanced	O
game	O
scripting	O
,	O
with	O
AI	B-Application
and	O
object	O
behavior	O
being	O
controlled	O
by	O
"	O
Object	O
Script	O
Module	O
"	O
(	O
.OSM	O
)	O
files	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
DLLs	O
that	O
are	O
loaded	O
at	O
runtime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
new	O
modules	O
can	O
be	O
written	O
and	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
level	O
editor	O
,	O
DromEd	B-Application
,	O
but	O
are	O
limited	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
scope	O
of	O
the	O
functions	O
made	O
available	O
by	O
the	O
core	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
its	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
offered	O
advanced	O
AI	B-Application
and	O
sound	O
features	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
powerful	O
object-oriented	O
object	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
designer	O
has	O
full	O
control	O
of	O
sound	O
propagation	O
within	O
the	O
level	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
"	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
"	O
of	O
the	O
non-player	O
characters	O
(	O
NPCs	O
)	O
allows	O
for	O
three	O
levels	O
of	O
awareness	O
:	O
vague	O
acknowledgement	O
caused	O
by	O
mild	O
visual	O
or	O
auditive	O
disturbances	O
,	O
which	O
only	O
prompts	O
a	O
startled	O
bit	O
of	O
dialogue	O
;	O
definite	O
acknowledgement	O
caused	O
by	O
significant	O
visual	O
or	O
auditive	O
disturbances	O
,	O
which	O
causes	O
the	O
NPC	O
to	O
enter	O
"	O
search	O
mode	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
definite	O
acquisition	O
(	O
triggered	O
by	O
visual	O
on	O
the	O
fully	O
lit	O
player	O
,	O
or	O
face-first	O
contact	O
with	O
a	O
player	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
light	O
level	O
)	O
,	O
prompting	O
a	O
direct	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fans	O
of	O
the	O
Thief	B-Application
and	O
System	O
Shock	O
series	O
subsequently	O
petitioned	O
the	O
publisher	O
to	O
consider	O
releasing	O
the	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
April	O
2010	O
,	O
a	O
user	O
on	O
the	B-Operating_System
Dreamcast	I-Operating_System
Talk	O
forum	O
disassembled	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
a	O
Dreamcast	B-Operating_System
development	O
kit	O
he	O
had	O
purchased	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
kit	O
included	O
,	O
among	O
other	O
things	O
,	O
items	O
pertaining	O
to	O
ports	O
of	O
Thief	B-Application
2	I-Application
and	O
System	B-Application
Shock	I-Application
2	I-Application
to	O
that	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2012	O
,	O
a	O
significant	O
unofficial	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
was	O
published	O
anonymously	O
in	O
a	O
French	O
forum	O
,	O
most	O
probably	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
leaked	O
Dreamcast	B-Operating_System
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DromEd	B-Application
is	O
the	O
level	O
editor	O
for	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
Thief	B-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Dark	I-Application
Project	I-Application
,	O
but	O
after	O
a	O
petition	O
from	O
the	O
fan	O
community	O
it	O
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
,	O
as	O
were	O
later	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
four	O
different	O
versions	O
of	O
DromEd	B-Application
:	O
for	O
Thief	B-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Dark	I-Application
Project	I-Application
,	O
for	O
Thief	B-Application
Gold	I-Application
,	O
for	O
Thief	B-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
and	O
lastly	O
for	O
System	B-Application
Shock	I-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
commonly	O
called	O
"	O
ShockEd.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
DromEd	B-Application
for	O
Thief	B-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Dark	I-Application
Project	I-Application
and	O
Thief	B-Application
Gold	I-Application
use	O
the	O
same	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
and	O
therefore	O
can	O
open	O
levels	O
created	O
for	O
each	O
game	O
,	O
although	O
Thief	B-Application
Gold	I-Application
levels	O
may	O
refer	O
to	O
in-game	O
objects	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
found	O
in	O
Thief	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thief	B-Application
II	I-Application
uses	O
a	O
revised	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
,	O
and	O
therefore	O
it	O
is	O
difficult	O
to	O
open	O
levels	O
created	O
for	O
Thief	B-Application
with	O
DromEd	B-Application
for	O
Thief	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
ShockEd	O
is	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
any	O
Dark	O
Engine	O
games	O
aside	O
from	O
System	B-Application
Shock	I-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	B-Application
Shock	I-Application
2	I-Application
levels	O
can	O
be	O
loaded	O
by	O
DromEd	B-Application
2	O
with	O
some	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
level	O
editor	O
,	O
DromEd	B-Application
,	O
is	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
project	O
it	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
a	O
game	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Arthurian	O
legend	O
of	O
Camelot	B-Application
the	O
Camel	O
becoming	O
Dromedary	O
and	O
thence	O
Dromed	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DromEd	B-Application
has	O
been	O
used	O
by	O
fans	O
to	O
create	O
hundreds	O
of	O
fan	O
missions	O
for	O
Thief	B-Application
and	O
Thief	B-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
and	O
several	O
missions	O
for	O
System	B-Application
Shock	I-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
